Template  IPS CDA legalAuthenticator

The legalAuthenticator identifies the single person legally responsible for the document and must be present if the document has been legally authenticated. A clinical document that does not contain this element has not been legally authenticated.

The act of legal authentication requires a certain privilege be granted to the legal authenticator depending upon local policy. Based on local practice, clinical documents may be released before legal authentication.

All clinical documents have the potential for legal authentication, given the appropriate credentials.

Local policies MAY choose to delegate the function of legal authentication to a device or system that generates the clinical document. In these cases, the legal authenticator is a person accepting responsibility for the document, not the generating device or system.

Note that the legal authenticator, if present, must be a person.